Pet feeding dish and system

ABSTRACT

A pet feeding system that includes a dish configured to regulate intake of food by a pet, such as a cat. The dish has a housing in cooperation with a food-dispensing receptacle that dispense food into a food-receiving chamber within the housing permitting a pet to access food in the chamber through at least one food access port that only permits part of the pet to reach within the housing to get some food. The food-dispensing receptacle can be a bowl that can be integrally formed as part of the housing and can also be a food-holding container that seats in the bowl. A cap is provided that can cover food in the bowl or container preventing a pet from accessing the food.

CROSS REFERENCE

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/100,505, filed Sep. 26, 2008, theentirety of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD

The present invention relates to a food dish and more particularly to ananimal food dish that is capable of regulating or metering fooddelivered for actual animal consumption.

BACKGROUND

Pets, particularly cats, have a tendency of overeating when presentedwith a dish full of food. Obesity related problems, including thyroidrelated problems, can occur, which obviously are extremely undesirable.In addition, many animals, including cats in particular, areinstinctively programmed to hunt or otherwise work to obtain their food.

What is needed is a food dish that discourages pet overeating. What isalso needed is a food dish that takes advantage of an animal'sinstinctive predatory tendencies to seek and obtain food.

SUMMARY

The present invention is directed to a pet feeding dish and feedingsystem that is configured to help regulate food intake of a pet, such asa cat or dog. Where the pet is of a type possessing hunting instincts,the dish can be configured to present food in a manner that challengesthe pet and correspondingly reduces the pet's food consumption rate bymaking the pet work for its food.

Such a dish is configured so the pet is unable to eat directly from itbut rather in a manner where the pet must manually move food it wishesto eat, typically with a paw or the like, to a location where it can beeaten. Such a dish can be configured or is configurable in a manner thatprevents the pet to access all of the food held by the dish thereby alsohelping regulate food intake.

In one embodiment, a pet feeding system is provided that includes afeeding dish with a bottom, e.g., floor, and a housing that extendsupwardly from the floor, defining a food-receiving chamber between thefloor and the housing. Such a feeding dish can be constructed as a dishassembly where the floor removably attaches to a portion of the housing.The housing includes a food discharge outlet that can be a chute with anopening that faces and is vertically spaced from the floor. Food isdispensed in a manner so that the pet does not have access to the entirecontents of the food at a given time. While in use, the total volume offood held can be located in different parts of the dish. For example,there can be (i) a dispensed volume of food that sits upon the floor,(ii) a supporting volume of food that extends upwardly between thedispensed volume of food and the chute opening, and (iii) a storedvolume of food that is supported from below by the supporting volume offood and is held within the chute.

In another embodiment, the dish housing includes multiple feeding portsthat extend into the chamber and are spaced from each other about aperimeter of the housing. The housing can also have multiple windowsthat extend into the chamber that allow a pet to look therethrough andsee dispensed food within the chamber, including food sitting on thefloor. Where equipped with such viewing windows, the windows are alsospaced from each other about the perimeter of the housing and can bepositioned alternatingly between the feeding ports.

In yet another embodiment, the dish assembly opening of a bowl is spacedfrom the floor by a first distance that is less than a second distancethat is defined by a width across the opening of the bowl. In otherwords, the opening of the bowl can be placed a distance to the floorthat is smaller that a distance across the opening, itself.

In another embodiment, the housing has a hemispherical shape and thebowl is in communication with an upper portion of the housing. Thehousing and bowl can be integrally connected so that an upper edge ofthe housing curves downwardly toward the chamber and transitions into asidewall of the bowl. The sidewall of the bowl can be connected to achute such that the opening of the bowl assembly is defined at thebottom of the chute. The chute is funnel-like or conical so as to directfood that falls through the opening to a relatively small location onthe underlying floor where it can accumulate in the chamber.

In yet other embodiments, the bowl is part of an assembly that includesa container that extends upwardly from at least one of the bowl and thechute. The container can be supported by an annular land that extendsinwardly from the bowl and/or chute. The container can be removable fromthe bowl and can be configured to receive a cap that prevents a pet fromaccessing food in the container. In another embodiment, there is a capthat overlies the bowl that prevents direct pet access to food in thebowl. Such a cap can be configured to be adaptable to fit on such acontainer or seat in the annular land.

In another embodiment, during use, the system dispenses food in a mannerthat can be discontinuous and at a rate that corresponds to a rate atwhich a pet removes food from a dish or dish assembly of the system. Abowl is filled with a volume of food, some of which passes through anopening and accumulates on a floor and within a chamber defined belowthe bowl. Access to the dispensed food is only permitted through ahousing of the dish assembly; for example, by way of a feeding port thatextends into the chamber. When a pet removes some of the dispensed foodfrom the chamber, some supporting food is dispensed, such as by gravity,from above to replace food on the floor removed by the pet. Furthermore,some stored food falls, such as by gravity, through the opening and ontothe (replaced) dispensed food, piling and accumulating thereupon untilit reaches the opening and itself, whereby it supports the stored foodwaiting in line at or adjacent the opening so that the stored food isheld in the bowl, until more of dispensed food received in the chamberis removed and such dispensing and replenishing cycle repeats.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One or more preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention areillustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like referencenumerals represent like parts throughout and in which:

FIG. 1 is an upper pictorial view of a first embodiment of a dishassembly of a pet feeding system of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded pictorial view of the dish assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side elevation view of various components ofthe dish assembly of FIG. 1.

Before explaining one or more embodiments of the invention in detail, itis to be understood that the invention is not limited in its applicationto the details of construction and the arrangement of the components setforth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. Theinvention is capable of other embodiments, which can be practiced orcarried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that thephraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose ofdescription and should not be regarded as limiting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1-3 illustrate an exemplary but preferred embodiment of a petfeeding system 5 that is designed for providing pet food 10 to a pet,such as a cat or dog (not illustrated), in a manner that regulates andthereby is capable of reducing the pet's food consumption rate. The petfeeding system 5 includes a feeding dish or dish assembly 20 that holdsand meters food delivery. The dish assembly 20 shown in FIGS. 1-3includes (i) a floor 30, (ii) a housing 50 that extends upwardly fromthe floor 30, (iii) a food-receiving chamber 60 which is a void spacedefined between the floor 30 and housing 50, and can include (iv) a bowlassembly 70 that can serve as a food-dispensing receptacle.

Still referring to FIGS. 1-2, floor 30 is removably attached to a bottomportion of the housing 50 thereby enabling it to be easily removed forcleaning, such as in a dishwasher. If desired, floor 30 can instead beintegrally formed as part of the housing. Floor 30 supports food 10 thathas been delivered within the housing 50 in the food-receiving chamber60, and can also support the housing 50 itself.

If desired, floor 30 can be configured in a manner that helps containfood 10 received in the chamber 60 in a desired area and/or thatprovides obstacles to make it more challenging for a pet to reach andobtain food 10 in the chamber 60. For example, as is shown in FIGS. 1and 2, floor 30 includes a food supporting platform 32 from which aplurality of upraised portions 34 extend upwardly therefrom. In apreferred embodiment, there is a plurality of pairs, i.e., at leastthree, upraised portions 34 spaced about an area of the platform 32where food 10 dispensed through outlet 82 is received, e.g., lands,opposing food dispensed into the chamber 60 from flowing toward any oneof the feeder ports 55 helping meter food intake by the pet. In acurrently preferred embodiment, there are at least three upraisedportions 34 which are generally circular in shape that are spaced aboutand outwardly of a center of the platform 32 where food 10 drops throughthe opening 82 in the housing 50 downwardly onto the platform 32.

If desired, platform 32 can also be upraised. Additionally, the platform32 and upraised portions 34 can be integrally formed of or as part ofthe floor 30 in a manner that produces a floor 30, platform 32 andupraised portions 34 as a single component that is of one-piece, unitaryand substantially homogenous construction. If desired they can beconstructed separately, such as in disc or pad form, and attached to thefloor 30.

Referring specifically now to FIG. 2, for embodiments in which the floor30 is removably attached to the housing 50, the floor 30 and housing 50have cooperating interlocking structures that are configured to engageeach other as a snap fit, twist locking, or other suitable engagementmechanism(s). Twist locking versions include cooperating grooves orramps 38 and tabs 40 that engage each other to couple the floor 30 withthe housing 50. Ramps 38 are provided on an outer circumferentialsurface at the perimeter edge of the floor 30. The tabs 40 extendinwardly from the housing 50 and are spaced from each other by the samedistances as those between the ramps 38, whereby the floor 30 andhousing 50 mechanically engage each other at multiple locations aboutthe perimeter of the dish assembly 20. This is done by aligning thecorresponding ramps 38 and tabs 40 with each other and then rotating thehousing 50 upon the floor 30 so that it circumferentially advances untilthe ramps 38 and tabs 40 are fully engaged with each other.

Referring again to FIGS. 1-2, housing 50 includes a sidewall 52 thatextends around a periphery of the chamber 60, and multiple openings suchas feeder ports 55 and windows 57 that extend through the sidewall 52and permit access to the chamber 60. A bottom portion of the sidewall 52fits over and just outside of the outer perimeter of floor 30, wherebythe floor 30 is housed concentrically within such overlapping bottomportion of the sidewall 52. It is at this overlapping portion of thefloor 30 and sidewall 52 where (i) the tabs 40 that extend from aninwardly facing surface of the sidewall 52, and (ii) the ramps 38 of theoutwardly facing surface of floor 30, engage with each other. Forembodiments in which the floor 30 has a round perimeter shape, thesidewall 52 extends upwardly from the floor 30 in a generally annularfashion, and a diameter of the sidewall 52 decreases as a height of thesidewall 52 increases. This gives the sidewall 52 a generallyhemispherical shape that covers the chamber 60.

At least one, and preferably multiple circumferentially spaced apart,feeder ports 55 extend through the sidewall 52. The feeder ports 55 areconfigured to allow a pet, for example, a cat, to access food 10 byextending its paw through the sidewall in a first direction and draggingsome of the food 10 out of the dish assembly 20 in a second, oppositedirection. Each feeder port 55 is a passageway defined between twoparallel and upwardly extending side edges that are connected to eachother by an arcuate top edge. An overall height of the feeder port 55 isabout 1.5 inches or about 2 inches, and extends about ⅔ of the way upthe height of or along the outer surface of the sidewall 52. An overallwidth of the feeder port 55 is about 1.25 inches or about 1.75 inchesand the port width being about ¼ of the outer diameter of the sidewall52. These exemplary dimensions are most suitable for implementations ofdish assembly 20 that are configured for use with cats as the pets, inlight of typical sizes of domesticated cats.

At least one, and preferably multiple circumferentially spaced apart,windows 57 extend through the sidewall 52 at locations that are higherup on the sidewall as compared to the feeder ports 55. The windows 57are round, oval, or otherwise shaped apertures that are configured toallow a pet to see into the chamber 60, that is, through the sidewall 52to see the food 10 sitting upon the floor 30. Each window 57 is somewhatshorter and narrower than the feeder port 55, dissuading pets fromreaching through the windows 57 instead of the feeder ports 55.

Regardless of the particular shape and dimensions of the feeder ports 55and windows 57, together, they give the sidewall 52 a generallyperforated configuration in which the material of the sidewall 52continuously meanders between the feeder ports 55 and windows 57. Thefeeder ports 55 and windows 57 can be sized so that the overall surfacearea of the sidewall 52 is at least about 25% void space, optionally, atleast about 50% void space, at least about 75% void space, so long asthere is enough material in sidewall 52 to suitably support the bowlassembly 70.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-3, bowl assembly 70 includes a bowl 72 that canalso serve as a food-dispensing receptacle, a chute 80, a container 90,and a cap 100 that, together, define an enclosure which holds food 10prior to its dispensation upon the floor 30. An upper edge of bowl 72 isconnected to the upper edge of the sidewall 52 of housing 50. From thering-like connection between the bowl 72 and housing 50, a sidewall 74of the bowl 72 extends downwardly into the chamber 60, whereby the bowl72 defines a concavity or depression that is recessed into the housing50.

A chute 80, which is configured to direct and guide food 10 that dropsfrom the bowl 72 into the chamber 60, extends downwardly from the bottomof bowl 72, further into the chamber 60. Chute 80 preferably has afunnel-like contour and its upper edge is connected to the lower edge ofbowl 72 so that the bowl sidewall 74 and chute 80 define a unitary,continuous structure. At the bottom of chute 80, an opening 82 extendstherethrough which faces downwardly toward the floor 30. Opening 82 issized and configured based on the particular type of food 10 that isused in the dish assembly 20.

For example, when food 10 is a dry, kibble-type cat food made ofmultiple particles or granules of food 10, the opening 82 can have adiameter of about 1.5 inches or a bit less, for example, about 1⅜ inch,and is spaced about 1 inch, or a bit less, for example, about ⅞ inch,from the upper surface of floor 30, whereby the opening 82 in suchembodiments is spaced from the floor 30 by a distance that is less thana width or diameter dimension of the opening 82. The opening diameter,spacing from the bottom wall, and tapering angle of the chute 80, areselected to provide a desired amount of food 10 on the floor 30 whilemaintaining a remainder of the food in the bowl 72 and chute 80 in amanner that is described in greater detail elsewhere herein. Where thefood 10 is dog food having larger particles or chunks, such dimensionscan be increased in accordance with that discussed herein to produce adish or dish assembly adapted for dog food use.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-3, at an upper end of the chute 80, an annularland 84 extends radially inwardly from the chute, optionally from thebowl sidewall 74, providing a ledge or shoulder-like structure. Adiameter of the annular land 84 preferably corresponds to a diameter ofthe container 90 and cap 100, so that the annular land 84 can supportthe cap 100 directly or support the container 90 which in turn supportsthe cap.

Referring again to FIGS. 1-3, container 90 is a cylindrical tube thatsits upon the annular land 84 and extends upwardly from the chute 80and/or bowl 72, over the opening 82 of the chute 80. The volume ofcontainer 90 is selected so that the dish assembly 20 can hold a desiredamount of food, whereby shorter containers 90 are used when less food isto be held in the dish assembly 20 and longer (taller) containers 90 areused when more food is to be held in the dish assembly 20. An upper edgeof the container 90 includes an annular land 94 that is largelyanalogous to the annular land 84 of the chute 80, whereby it isconfigured as a supporting shoulder for holding the cap 100 on the topof the container 90.

Referring now again to FIGS. 1-2, cap 100, as discussed before, can beplaced directly on the annular land 84 of the chute 80 if the container90 is not being used, or can be placed on the annular land 94 of thecontainer 90 if the container is being used. Cap 100 has multiplehandgrips 105 formed in its outer surface and a downturned lip 110 aboutits outer periphery that seats upon the annular land 84, 94 of the chute80 or container 90. The cap 100 prevents a cat from eating directly fromthe bowl 72 thereby enabling the top height of the bowl 72 to be madelow enough where a cat can access it (thus necessitating use of cap100).

Preferably, the various components of the dish assembly 20 are made fromany of a variety of suitable polymeric materials that are well knownwithin the art. Furthermore, such polymeric components such as, forexample, various ones of the floor 30, housing 50, and bowl assembly 70,can be impregnated, coated with, and/or otherwise treated with variousantibacterial and/or moisture absorbent materials. In some embodiments,various components of the dish assembly 20 can also be scented, such asto attract a cat or other pet to the chamber 60. In yet otherembodiments, one ore more components of the dish assembly 20 is madefrom non-polymeric materials, for example, being made from ones ofceramic, glass, metallic, and/or other materials depending on theintended end use configuration of the dish assembly 20.

In at least one preferred embodiment, at least the dish housing 50 ismade of plastic, such as a polyethylene or polyurethane, which is clearenough where a pet can view food 10 disposed in the chamber between thehousing 50 and floor 30. This not only helps a pet to locate the food10, but also adds to the challenge presented to the pet by enticing thepet yet making it difficult to reach. In one preferred embodiment, thedish housing 50, including the bowl 72, chute 80, opening 82, ports 55and windows 57 are formed as a single component that is of one-piece,unitary and substantially homogenous construction.

In light of the above, during use of the pet feeding system 5, food 10is presented to a pet in a manner that challenges the pet, and reducesthe pet's food consumption rate such that it can and preferably doeshelp regulate pet food intake. That is done by way of dish assembly 20that simulates certain hunting-like scenarios in a manner that takesadvantage and encourages the natural instinct of a cat to want to seekout, hunt as well as “play” with its food 10. As a result of the cathaving to work to get its food in this manner, it reduces the likelihoodof cat overeating preferably preventing it.

Referring again to FIGS. 2-3, to use the pet feeding system 5, a userconnects the floor 30 to the housing 50 and places food 10 in either,directly in the bowl 72 or into the container 90 and thus also into thebowl 72. Upon so doing, some food 10 is gravity dispensed through theopening 82 of chute 80 and it begins piling on the floor 30. It is notedthat only some of the food 10 that enters the bowl 72 passes through thechute 80, opening 82, and piles onto the floor 30, with the remainder ofthe food 10 being held upstream of the floor 30 in such dispensationseries. At this point, the entire contents of food 10 can be defined asthree distinct portions or volumes.

Referring specifically now to FIG. 3 and to the multiple portions of theentire volume of food 10, dispensed food 12 sits directly upon the uppersurface of floor 30. The dispensed food 12 occupies an area on the floor30 that extends generally across the upraised platform 32 or between theupraised buttons 34. Typically, after first filling the dish assembly 20with food, the dispensed food 12 spills across and sits upon a centralportion of the floor so that it is spaced from the outer perimeter ofthe floor 30. The upraised buttons 34 can mechanically restrain thedispensed food 12 from expanding or spilling radially or outwardlybeyond their position upon the floor. Accordingly, a perimeter shape andwidth of a footprint of the dispensed food 12 upon the floor 30corresponds to the spacing between the adjacent upraised buttons 34, aswell as the radial distance between the upraised buttons 34 and theopening 82 of chute 80 or the middle of the floor 30.

For example, when the upraised buttons 34 are spaced from the middle ofthe floor 30 by a distance of about 1¼ inch, as defined between acentral axis of the floor 30 and the surface of upraised buttons 34 thatis closest thereto, the dispensed food 12 typically will spill acrossand settle in a manner that forms a generally circular perimeter shapehaving a similar radius, that is about 1¼ inch to about 2 inches,depending on the particular characteristics of the individual kibbles ofthe food 10, that is, their size, density, greasiness or dryness, and/orother factors. Stated another way, in some embodiments, the positions ofthe upraised buttons 34 upon the floor 30 influences a perimeter sizeand shape of the dispensed food 12.

Furthermore, the positions of upraised buttons 34 upon the floor 30 areselected to provide a challenge to the pet when trying to withdraw food10 from the chamber 60, but without being unduly difficult to surmountso as to not overly frustrate the pet. This can be accomplished bypositioning the upraised buttons 34 on the floor 30 so that they arespaced about 1½ inch or more from an outer perimeter of the floor 30 andproviding the upraised buttons 34 with diameters of about 1 inch.Furthermore, the upraised buttons 34 are preferably located off-centeror at least somewhat misaligned with the feeder ports 55 which allowsthe pet to withdraw food from the chamber 60 by dragging pieces of thedispensed food 12 straight from the feeder ports 55 or generallyradially across the floor 30.

When some of the dispensed food 12 is dragged from the chamber 60, asimilar amount of supporting food 14 falls onto the floor 30, taking theplace of the removed dispensed food 12. Doing so generally maintains thevolume and perimeter shape of the dispensed food 12, by way of gravityreplacing the dispensed food 12 with some of the supporting food 14.Stated another way, supporting food 14 extends upwardly from thedispensed food 12, typically, in a pile that decreases in width as itincreases in height so that it resembles a cone or pyramid.

The uppermost pieces of the supporting food 14 are positioned within theopening 82 of the chute 80, such that the supporting food 14 serves as aplug that maintains position of the stored food 16 that is held in thechute 80 and bowl 72, preventing the stored food 16 from falling throughthe opening 82. In this regard, the pet controls the rate ofdispensation of the food 10 because food passes through the chute 80 andout of the opening 82 at approximately the same rate as the pieces ofthe dispensed food 12 is removed from the remainder of the dispensedfood 12 pile and, for example, removed from the chamber 60.

It is noted that for such intermittent dispensation of food 10 to worksuitably well, in preferred embodiments, the plugging action ofsupporting food 14 is directly primarily upwardly into the opening 82.In other words, since there is a negligible amount of horizontallydirected jamming that occurs within the chute 80, if there is nosupporting food 14 that directly holds the stored food 16 from below,then at least some of the stored food 16 will freely slide through thechute 80 and fall out of the opening 82. This continues to occur,whereby a pile is formed below the opening 82 and upon the dispensedfood 12, until such pile reaches such a height that the upper part ofthe pile abuts the stored food 16, whereby the pile (FIG. 3) once againdefines a supporting food 14 volume. Accordingly, the particulardiameter of opening 82 of the chute 80 and the distance from opening 82from the underlying floor 30 are selected based on, for example, typicalkibble size and shape of food 10 so as to impart such a verticallydirected jamming or plugging characteristic of the supporting food 14 atopening 82, for supporting the stored food 16.

Various alternatives are contemplated as being within the scope of thesubject matter regarded as the invention. For example, in someembodiments, floor 30 is not a component of the dish assembly 20, butinstead is defined as a portion of a floor of a building in which thefeeding system 5 is used and which underlies the housing 50. It is alsoto be understood that, although the foregoing description and drawingsdescribe and illustrate in detail one or more preferred embodiments ofthe present invention, to those skilled in the art to which the presentinvention relates, the present disclosure will suggest manymodifications and constructions, as well as widely differing embodimentsand applications without thereby departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention.

1. A pet food dish comprising: a bottom upon which pet food is disposed;a generally upwardly extending sidewall extending around the bottomhaving a plurality of spaced apart food access ports formed in thesidewall that are each configured to prevent pet food disposed on thebottom from being eaten by a pet while permitting insertion of a paw ofthe pet through one of the plurality of food access ports enablingengagement of pet food disposed on the bottom and withdrawal of pet fooddisposed on the bottom through the one of the plurality of food accessports; and a top overlying the bottom and defining a food-receivingchamber with the bottom and the sidewall, the top having an openingthrough which pet food falls downwardly into the food-receiving chamberand onto the bottom, and the top comprising an integrally formedfood-receiving recess with the opening comprising an outlet formed inthe food-receiving recess that is in fluid-flow communication with thefood-receiving chamber through which food from the food-receiving recessflows onto the bottom in the food-receiving chamber.
 2. The pet fooddish of claim 1 wherein the bottom is generally circular, wherein thesidewall is made of a relatively clear material through which the petcan view food disposed on the bottom, and wherein the sidewall isgenerally annular having food access ports spaced apart about the entireperiphery of the bottom.
 3. The pet food dish of claim 2 wherein thebottom is removably attached to the sidewall.
 4. The pet food dish ofclaim 1 wherein the food-receiving recess comprises a concave generallyfunnel-shaped chute formed in the top.
 5. The pet food dish of claim 1wherein the top and bottom are generally circular, wherein the sidewallis made of a relatively clear material through which the pet can viewfood disposed on the bottom, and wherein the sidewall is generallyannular having food access ports spaced apart about the bottom along theentire periphery of the sidewall.
 6. The pet food dish of claim 5wherein the bottom is removably attached to the sidewall.
 7. The petfood dish of claim 1 wherein the sidewall has a food viewing windowformed therein that is disposed between a plurality of the food accessports with the food viewing window extending above the food access portsenabling a pet to see through the sidewall into the food-receivingchamber.
 8. The pet food dish of claim 1 wherein the top and sidewallcomprise a housing enclosing the bottom.
 9. The pet food dish of claim 8wherein the top and sidewall form a housing of one-piece construction.10. The pet food dish of claim 9 wherein the food-receiving recesscomprises a bowl integrally formed of the top of the housing.
 11. Thepet food dish of claim 9 wherein the food-receiving recess comprises afood-dispensing receptacle.
 12. The pet food dish of claim 1 furthercomprising a removable cover that overlies the food-receiving recesscovering the food-receiving recess.
 13. The pet food dish of claim 1further comprising a removable food-holding container that engages thehousing in operable cooperation with the food-receiving recess holdingfood in the food-holding container.
 14. The pet food dish of claim 1further comprising a removable cover that covers the food-holdingcontainer.
 15. The pet food dish of claim 1 wherein the food comprisesparticulate or granular pet food and the outlet is spaced above thebottom a distance that allows food passing through the outlet to form apile that extends from the bottom to the outlet when some food remainsin the food-receiving recess.
 16. The pet food dish of claim 1 whereineach food access port has a bottom edge extending adjacent to andalongside part of the bottom.
 17. The pet food dish of claim 16 whereinthe bottom edge of each food access port is generally straight.
 18. Thepet food dish of claim 17 wherein each food access port has a generallyupside down U-shape.
 19. The pet food dish of claim 17 wherein thesidewall further comprises a food viewing window formed therein that isdisposed between a pair of adjacent food access ports having a bottom ata height higher than the bottom edge of each one of the pair of adjacentfood access ports and having a top at a height higher than a top of eachone of the pair of adjacent food access ports.
 20. The pet food dish ofclaim 1 wherein the top and sidewall form a generally hemisphericalhousing and wherein the food-receiving recess comprises a generallyconical chute formed in the top of the generally hemispherical housing.21. The pet food dish of claim 1 wherein the bottom has an upraisedportion disposed outwardly of the outlet that opposes food that haspassed through the outlet into the food receiving chamber from flowingtoward the plurality of food access ports.
 22. The pet food dish ofclaim 21 wherein the upraised portion comprises a plurality of upraisedportions spaced about an area of the bottom onto which food passingthrough the outlet drops.
 23. The pet food dish of claim 22 wherein eachupraised portion comprises a generally round button integrally formed ofthe bottom that is upraised therefrom.
 24. A pet food dish comprising: ahousing comprising (a) a sidewall having at least one pet food accessport through which a pet can reach part of its body through to engagefood within the housing and (b) a food-receiving recess formed of thehousing overlying a bottom defining a food-receiving chambertherebetween with the food-receiving recess having a food-dispensingoutlet in fluid-flow communication with the food-receiving chamber; anda food-holding container that seats on the housing and is disposed influid-flow communication with the outlet.
 25. The pet food dish of claim24 wherein the food-holding container, the food-receiving recess inwhich the food-holding container seats, and the outlet define afood-dispensing receptacle through which food passes into thefood-receiving chamber.
 26. The pet food dish of claim 25 wherein thefood comprises particulate or granular pet food and the outlet is spacedabove the bottom a distance that allows food passing through the outletto form a pile that extends from the bottom to the outlet when at leastsome food remains in the food-dispensing receptacle.
 27. The pet fooddish of claim 24 wherein the bottom is generally circular, wherein thesidewall is made of a relatively clear material through which the petcan view food disposed on the bottom, wherein the sidewall extendsupwardly from the bottom having food access ports spaced apart about theentire periphery of the bottom.
 28. The pet food dish of claim 24wherein the food-receiving recess comprises a bowl formed of the housingand wherein the food-holding container comprises a tubular food-holdingcontainer having a removable cover with the food-holding containerremovably seating in the bowl.
 29. A pet food dish comprising a housinghaving (a) a generally annular and relatively clear sidewall encirclinga bottom defining a food-receiving chamber therebetween with thesidewall having a plurality of food access ports spaced about aperiphery of the bottom configured to prevent pet food disposed on thebottom from being eaten by a pet while permitting insertion of a paw ofthe pet through one of the plurality of food access ports enablingengagement of pet food disposed on the bottom and withdrawal of pet fooddisposed on the bottom through the one of the plurality of food accessports, and (b) a top with an opening through which pet food is depositedonto the bottom, the top comprising a food-receiving recess formedtherein with the opening comprising an outlet in fluid-flowcommunication with the food-receiving chamber inside the housing throughwhich pet food in the food-receiving recess passes into thefood-receiving chamber.
 30. The pet food dish of claim 29 furthercomprising a tubular food-holding container that operatively cooperateswith top of the housing defining a food-dispensing receptacle from whichparticulate or granular pet food is dispensed by gravity into thefood-receiving chamber.
 31. The pet food dish of claim 29 furthercomprising a cover removably received on the housing.
 32. The pet fooddish of claim 29 wherein the food-receiving recess comprises a generallyconical chute formed in the top of the housing.
 33. The pet food dish ofclaim 29 wherein the food-receiving recess comprises a bowl.
 34. The petfood dish of claim 29 wherein the sidewall further comprises a pluralityof spaced apart food viewing windows formed therein that are eachdisposed between a pair of adjacent food access ports with each foodviewing window extending upwardly to a height higher than the pair ofadjacent food access ports.
 35. The pet food dish of claim 29 whereineach food access port has a bottom edge extending adjacent to andalongside part of the bottom.
 36. The pet food dish of claim 35 whereinthe bottom edge of each food access port is generally straight.
 37. Thepet food dish of claim 36 wherein each food access port has a generallyupside down U-shape.
 38. The pet food dish of claim 36 wherein thesidewall further comprises a food viewing window formed therein that isdisposed between a pair of adjacent food access ports having a bottom ata height higher than the bottom edge of each one of the pair of adjacentfood access ports and having a top at a height higher than a top of eachone of the pair of adjacent food access ports.
 39. The pet food dish ofclaim 29 wherein the housing is generally hemispherical.
 40. The petfood dish of claim 29 wherein the bottom has an upraised portion locatedoutwardly of the outlet that opposes food that has passed through theoutlet into the food receiving chamber and onto the bottom from flowingoutwardly toward the plurality of food access ports.
 41. The pet fooddish of claim 40 wherein the upraised portion comprises a plurality ofupraised portions spaced outwardly of an area of the bottom onto whichfood passing through the outlet drops.
 42. The pet food dish of claim 41wherein each upraised portion comprises a generally round buttonintegrally formed of the bottom that is upraised therefrom.